From BenF: Alexander's Funeral Games - 15mm Ancient Successors (164 pts)

Well, it seems like the world is going rather crazy at the moment. From toilet paper hoarding to panic buying of pasta, to the usual conspiracy theory tropes, the insanity of the online world seems to have outdone itself on this one. Glad to see that the challenge is pottering along as calmly as ever, an island of sanity. I hope that everyone and their loved ones are staying safe.

For this entry, it's about as close as I get to a painting bomb - a bunch of 15mm ancients for Sword and Spear and Impetus. I love the opportunity to base them us as little dioramas offered by the large bases. I've got a Macedonian force which I had previously completed, with a few commanders appearing in the last challenge. To face off against Alexandros III Megalos I've been chipping away at a late Achaemenid Persian force. The bright colours and intricate details and patterns of their costume look great, but are not the easiest to paint up. I've also been reading about the successors, particularly the spectacular career of Antigonus One-Eyed - which would make a great movie. By tweaking my Macedonian army, and adding some odds and sods, I should be able to field an Antigonid army for S&S and Impetus.

First off, Persian cavalry. This lot are Iranians, and can serve equally with the Achaemenid army of the King of Kings, Darius III, or with the successor forces of Antigonus, or even with the Imperial army of Alexander himself. They're lovely Forged in Battle figures, and I did some minor alterations, changing poses and moving the spears around. These three bases did take a long time to finish, and the patterns nearly did for me. However, as high status troops I did spend extra time on them. I've got a base of armoured Persian cavalry, and the rest of the force will be Scythians and Bactrians.

Next, it's the superweapon of the successor age - a pair of war elephants. I also went a little crazy on these two, spending a fair bit of time painting up their blankets with designs of Zeus and the Star of Macedon, along with patterning. Very happy with the result, and as most games require few elephants, I think the time invested paid off. I've also included a few peltasts to provide support for the nellies.

Next, a base of Prodromoi, Alexander's Paeonian light lancers. The crazy colours of armies from this period seem sometimes very unusual to men, someone who usually paints 20th century, Romans and Dark Ages figures. The fetching pink/blue/yellow combo is historical, and based on a range of evidence including tombstones. It does pop though, doesn't it. Between the pink cloaks and the leopard skin saddles, this is one bunch of ancient dandies.

Finally, its a force ubiquitous to the Hellenistic period, the Peltasts. Armed with javelins, but equipped to hold their own in hand to hand, the Peltasts were often deployed in support of or on opposition to phalanxes. Xenophon recounts a case where peltasts annihilated a phalanx of Spartans. Despite their apparent commonness in Hellenistic armies, Sword and Spear doesn't include any stats for them, so we've home ruled some. Also, I couldn't find any shield decals to fit this lot, so ended up painting my own designs on. They're not perfect, but i'm happy with them.

I do have some more successor troops and loads of Achaemenids, but that is for another Challenge.

For this lot, the total should be :

24 horse = 96 points
26 foot = 52
2 elephant? (maybe 20mm mounted) = 16

For a grand total of......164 points!!!

MilesR: wow - these are really nicely done - love the Ellies.  I'm scoring this as all 15mm but with 15 bonus points to account for the size of the ellies and the stunning shield and banner paints - 179 paints for this superb Persian Host.  Now keep them in quarantine for 14 days, if you please.